Air Tractor AT-301 N3166H

Summary

On 3 September 1996 at about 20:00 local time, a Air Tractor AT-301 registered N3166H was involved in an accident near Meadow, Texas, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 September 1996 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Meadow, Texas, United States

Coordinates

33.3310, -102.1998

Aircraft

Air Tractor AT-301

Registration

N3166H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Brownfield → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW96LA371

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the transmission wire. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he arrived at the field and made a complete circuit of the job to locate all wires. The pilot stated that there were large east-west power lines on the north edge of the field and small east-west wires along the south end of the flat field. The pilot flew the first application swath south bound by flying under large wires, across the field, and over small wires on the south end of the field. He then turned the airplane around for the second swath and reversed the application pattern. On the north end of the field, the airplane's vertical stabilizer hit the large wires, destroying the fin and removing the rudder. The pilot reported that the airplane would only fly in a circle, so he dumped the plane's load and performed a forced landing to a cotton field.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.